Printing and bundling machine



Nov. 21, 1939. A} J ON ET 2.-181,088

PRINTING AND BUNDLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1937 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN'vEN'roRs.

Nov. 21, 1939.

A. J. HORTON ET AL PRINTING AND BUNDLING MACHINE Filed Feb. 12, 1937 6 Sheets-Sheet iivwnuw wm' Q\ .F 1. 5 n L? Ir a INVENTORS.

Nov. 21

A, J. HORTON ET AL PRINTING AND BUNDLING MACHINE 6 Sheets-Shed a Filed Feb. 12, 19

1v .H mm ll zl. I Ii b c J Eat -mN N IN 3 Patented Nov. 21, 1939 PATENT OFFICE PRINTING AND BUNDIJNG MACHINE Albert Jl Horton, White Plains, and Stanley 0. Freeman, Mount Vernon, N. Y., assignors to R. Hoe & 00., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 12, 1937, Serial No. 125,484

18 Claims.

This invention relates tocombined printing machine and bundling mechanism, and more particularly to a mechanism including a printing machine from which products are delivered 8 in piles or stacks of sheets of predetermined number, a bundling mechanism, and mechanism for automatically conveying the stacks of sheets into the bundling mechanism where flexible elements are secured to the stacks to form bundles.

It is the present practice to manually convey the printed products from the printing machine to a separate bundling machine where a flexible element is passed around a predetermined number of products to form a bundle. The printing 8 V machine is manned and operated by one set of operators and the bundling machine operated by other hands. Such arrangement occasions considerable loss of valuable time and also entails large expense. There have been disclosures of machines in which the products from the printing machine are deposited into a container below the folder and then tapes secured around the products to form bundles. A device of this character is disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,856,978 to A. Terrey. Such arrangement is probably satisfactory for the purpose intended, but it would not meet the requirements of modern high speed printing machinery. In modern high speed printing machines for producing newspapers, magazines and the like, arrangements have been provided to deliver the products in piles or stacks, each stack containing a predetermined number of printed products. A delivery arrangement of this character is disclosed in the Quick et al. Patent No. 1,985,547, and Zuckerman Patent No. 1,693,632. In order to expeditiously bundle the products from modern high speed printing machines, it is necessary that means he provided to automatically feed the stacks of printed products from the delivery of the printing press directly into a bundling machine, therefore, an object of this invention is to provide mechanism for combining a printing machine and a bundling mechanism so that the stacked-products from the printing machine delivery are automatically conveyed to operable position into the bundling mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide mechanism for combining a printing machine and a bundling mechanism, the mechanism being constructed and arranged to automatically convey stacked products from the delivery of the printing machine into the bundling mechanism,

each stack of products being turned substantially 90 degrees in a horizontal plane during its movement from the printing press delivery to the bundling mechanism.

A further object of this invention. is to provide a mechanism for combining a printing machine and a bundling machine, the mechanism 5 being constructed and arranged to automatically convey products from the delivery of the printing machine into the bundling machine and for initiating the operation of the bundling machine in proper timed relation or operable se- 1 (meme to a phase of operation of the conveyor for conveying the products from the printing press delivery to the bundling mechanism.

An additional object of this invention is to provide mechanism for combining a printing .18 machine and bundling machine so that stacked products from the delivery of the printing machine are conveyed to a predetermined point in a path of travel extending from the printing machine to the bundling mechanism and then fed 20 from this point into the bundling mechanism.

A specific object of this invention is the provision of a mechanism for combining a printing machine and a bundling mechanism so that stacked products are conveyed from the delivery of the printing machine to a predeterminedpoint in a path of travel which extends from the printing machine to the bundling mechanism,

each stack of products, being turned in a hori-- zontal plane substantially 90 degrees during its movement from the printing machine delivery to the said predetermined point,-and reciprocatory means for feeding the stack of products from this predetermined point to bundling position in the bundling mechanism, and means for co-ordinating the operation of the stacked feeding means and the bundling mechanism.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a combined printing machine and bundling mechanism in which stacked products are .conveyed by the printing machine delivery to a conveyor having elements which operate at different speeds to thereby turn the stack of products during its movement from the printing press delivery to a feeding point, reciprocatory feeding means for feeding the products from the conveyor to bundling position in the bundling mechanism, means for initiating the operation of the bundling mechanism in operable sequence to a phase of operation of the feeding mechanism, and means for conveying the bundle away from the bundling mechanism.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a mechanism for combining a printing machine, and bundling mechanism to produce a device of generally improved construction, whereby the device will be simple, durable and inexpensive in construction, as well as convenient, practicable, serviceable and efiicient in its use.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it

being understood that various changes in form,

proportion, and minor details of construction may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any advantages of the invention.-

For a complete disclosure of the invention a detailed description of it will now be given in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein: a

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a combined printing machine and bundling mechanism, the

bundling mechanism being diagrammatically illustrated and a portion only of the printing machine being illustrated,

Figure 2 is a plan view of the mechanism de- 35 picted in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 4 is a similar view taken on the line 30 4-4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic plan view depicting the various stages of the turning action imparted to the pile or stack of sheets by the turning conveyor,

35 Figure 6 is a diagrammatic elevation depicting the gear ratios for the driving gears of the stack turning conveyor,

Figure '7 is a diagrammatic plan view thereof, Figure 8 is a diagrammatic plan view depicting the combined printing, folding and bundling mechanism,

Figure 9 is a plan view depicting a modified conveyor arrangement,

Figure 10 is a fragmental side elevation of the modified form of the invention shown in Figure 9,

Figure 11 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line of Figure 9, and V Figure 12 is a fragmental elevation of the modified form of the invention depicting the components in a different operating phase.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts, there is depicted a frame l0 having side members including supporting legs H and horizontal rails l2, the rails having longitudinal slots I 3 formed therein to define guide ways or tracks IS, the function of which will be hereinafter. disclosed. The side members of the frame are connected by intermediate cross members or braces l6 which have their outer terminals secured to the legs II, as indicated at IT, and upper cross members or braces i8 which have their outer terminals secured to the rails l2, as indicated at 20, thus defining a rigid frame structure for supporting conveyor elements to be hereinafter disclosed. The frame in is interposed between a bundling mechanism, diagrammatically indicated at 2|, and a printing machine, the delivery conveyor of which is indicated at 22.

Inasmuch as printing machines or printing and folding machines for printing and delivering products in stacks are well understood by those skilled in the art and disclosed in the hereinbefore cited Zuckerman or Quick et a1. patents,

such machine is only diagrammatically depicted in Figure 8 of the drawings. nism for securing a flexible element, such ascord or wire, around a bundle'or'stack of articles is well understood by those skilled in the art, and the details of such mechanism are disclosed in a number of patents, such, for example, as Patents 1,671,376 and 1,875,260, therefore, the diagrammatic illustration of the bundling mechanism, as indicated at 2|, will suffice for this disclosure. Usually in such mechanism the operation of the device is initiated by the movement of a foot pedal or treadle, such as indicated at 23, and, in order that the bundling mechanism may operate in predetermined timed relation or operable sequence with a phase of operation of instrumentalities disclosed in this application, means have been provided for operably connecting the bundling mechanism with said instrumentalities, as will be hereinafter disclosed.

The printing machine delivery includes a plurality of flexible elements, such as belts or chains 22, which are continuously driven by any suitable drive component, not shown, of the printing machine, and these belts are trained around pulleys mounted for independent rotation on a transversely extending shaft 26 which has its terminals secured in supporting bearings 21 formed in the rails l2 of the frame I. A plurality of pulleys 28 are also mounted for independent rotation on the shaft 26, and each pulley 28 has a belt 30 trained therearound, and the opposed terminals of the belts 36 are, in turn, trained around pulleys 3|. Each pulley 3| is suitably secured to a pinion 32 so that the pulley and pinion rotate together, and each combined pulley and pinion is mounted for rotation, independently of the other pulleys and pinions, on a transversely extending shaft 33 supported by brackets 34 which are secured to one of the braces l6, as indicated. For reasons to be hereinafter disclosed, it is preferred that each belt 30 be driven at a different speed from the other belts, and, to this end, each pinion 32 is of different size than the remaining pinions, and each pinion 32 meshes with a drive gear 35. The drive gears 35 are keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to a transversely extending shaft 36, and the shaft 36 is rotatably mounted in bearings 31 carried by brackets 38 which are secured to a cross rail I6 as best shown in Figure 3. Sprockets 40 are secured to the outer terminals of the shaft 36, and chains or other flexible driving members 4| are trained around these sprockets, and, also, around similar sprockets 42 which are keyed or otherwise secured to the opposed terminals of a transversely extending shaft 43 rotatably mounted in bearings 45 carried by a bracket 46 which is secured to a transversely extending member or brace l6, as indicated at 41. A sprocket 50 is keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 43 intermediate the sprockets 42, and this sprocket has a chain or other flexible driving element 5| trained therearound, which chain is continuously driven from any suitable instrumentality of the prining machine, and, inasmuch as such drives are readily understood by those skilled in the art, it is not here illustrated.

For reasons to be hereinafter disclosed, it is desirable that each conveyor element or belt 30 be continuously driven at a different speed from the remaining belts, the speed ratios being preferably arranged so that a belt at one side of the machine is driven at the fastest speed and the adjacent belt at a somewhat slower speed and so Bundling mecha- 70 .and, which belt may be driven from any suitable on until the belt positioned at the opposed side of the machine is travelling at the slowest speed. In order to accomplish this, the pinion 32 which is positioned at the slow side of the machine is relatively large in diameter and the adjacent pinion somewhat smaller, and so on until the pinion positioned at the opposed side of the machine is the smallest. The driving gears 35 which mesh with the pinions 82 are all of different sizes and arranged. so that the smallest gear 35 meshes with the largest pinion 32, and the largest gear with the smallest pinion, thus causing the speed of the belts to be progressively increased from the slow side of the delivery to the fast side. The drive arrangement and ratio have been diagrammatically depicted in Figures 6 and 7.

In .order to feed the stacked products from the conveyor formed by the belts 38 into the bundling mechanism 2|, there is provided a feeder or pusher mechanism which includes a carriage formed of U-shaped travellers 53, one of which is positioned at each side of the machine, and these travellers have flanged rollers 55 rotatably secured to the opposed lower terminals thereof by bolts or studs 55 and 51. The rollers 55 are received within the slots or recesses l3 and run on the trackways l5 to permit the travellers 53 to move along'the rails l2. Each traveller 53 has a link 58 pivotally secured thereto by means of a bolt or stud 51, and the opposed terminal of each link 58 is pivotally secured to a chain 4|, as indicated at 88. Each traveller 53 has one terminal of an arm 82 pivotally secured thereto by a bolt or stud, as indicated at 83, best shown in Figures 1 and 2, and the opposed or outer terminal of each arm 62 is keyed or otherwise rigidly secured to a tie rod or shaft 55 which extends transversely across the machine and has spaced upstanding pusher fingers 66 keyed or otherwise rigidly secured thereto, as indicated at 81. Stop or abutment lugs 58 extend inwardly from each traveller 53 to limit the downward movement of the arms 62 about their pivots or fulcrums 83. In order to swing the arms 82 upwardly about their pivots 53, for a purpose that will be hereinafter explained, each arm 82 has a roller 18 rotatably secured thereto by a bolt or stud I l, and an arcuate abutment or cam surface 12 is formed on the upper edge of each link 58 adjacent its pivotal connection with a chain ll, so that, as the pivotal connections 80 of the links 58 move around the sprocket 48, the cam surface I2 of each link engages a roller'lll to thus raise the arms 82 and pusher fingers 88 about the fulcrum or pivotal point 53 of the arms.

As will be hereinafter more fully explained, stacked products are conveyed from the printing machine P by the conveyor belts 22 onto the conveyor belts 38, and, then, the products are pushed forwardly from the conveyor belts 38 into the bundling machine 2| by the pusher fingers 86 along a platform I3, and from the bundling machine along this platform to a conveyor 15. The conveyor 15 includes a plurality of rollers 16 rotatably supported by the frame 11 of the conveyor 15, and these rollers are preferably arranged in an inclined plane so that the products may be fed by gravity along the rollers to a final conveyor belt 18 of usual construction,

source of power, not shown, in order to convey the bundle products to the desired destination;

Side guide-members 8| are preferably supported on the platform 13 to guide the prodof the bundling machine.

ucts into the bundling mechanism 2| to thus insure the stacked products'bein'g guided to operable position within the bundling mechanism.

After a stack of sheets has been delivered to operable position in the bundling machine 2|, the operation of the bundling mechanism should be initiated, and, to this end, there is provided a bell crank lever, best shown in Figures land 2, having arms 82 and 83, and the lever is fulcrumed shaft 88 has an arm 9! keyed or otherwise rigidly secured thereto and a roller 92 is rotatably secured to the outer terminal of the arm 9| and is positioned to engage a cam surface or flange 24 upstanding from the starting pedal or treadle A link 83 is interposed between and has its opposed terminals pivotally secured to the lower terminal of the arm 83 and the upper terminal of the arm 90 so that movement of the arms 82 and 83 will impart motion to the treadle 23. In order to normally hold the roller 92 into engagement with the cam 24 of the treadle 28, a terminal of a.

helical spring 95 is connected with the bell crank arm 83, as indicated at 86, and the opposed terminal 91 of the spring 95 is suitablysecured to the bundling machine frame so that the-spring 95, acting through the bell crank arms 83, link 93, arm 90, rockable shaft 88, arm 9| and roller 92 constrains or biases the roller 92 to engagement with the cam 24 of the treadle 28. A dash pct 98 is suitably secured to the bundling machine frame, as indicated at I88, and the usual piston or connecting rod |8| of the dash pot is pivotally connected with the bell crank arm 83, as indicated at I82. By this arrangement the dash pot prevents any undue shock to' the mechanism during its operation, as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In the, form of the invention depicted in Figures 9 to 12 inclusive the stacks of products are delivered from the printing or folding machine conveyor to the bundling machine without turning the products. In this arrangement conveyor belts 22 are driven byany suitable operating component, not shown, of the printing machine and these belts are trained around pulleys 3| rotatably mounted on a shaft'33' supported by a bracket 34' which is secured to a cross member I8 of the frame In as indicated at H. The upper reaches of the belts 22 are positioned in the same plane as the belts 38 in the form of the invention hereinbefore disclosed and the lower reaches of each belt engage the lower surfaces of idler pulleys 43 carried by the sprocket driving shaft 63 hereinbefore'disclosed. Side guide members 80 are supported at each side of the I a point for engagement by the pusher fingers 86 without turning the products.

In operation when the desired number of sheets or products have been stacked in the printing machine P, in conformity with the usual practice as disclosed in the cited Zuckerman and Quick et al. patents, the stack of sheets or products is conveyed from the printing machine P along the conveyor belts 22 towards the bundling mechanism and onto the conveyor belts 30. The stack is formed of sheets or folded products of rectangular shape and the length of the sheets are somewhat greater than their width, thus producing a stack having greater length than width. As the stack is conveyed along the belts 22, it is positionedso that its length is transverse the direction of travel of the belt, but, when the stack reaches the belts 30, which travel at different speeds, as hereinbefore disclosed, the stack is turned as it travels along these belts so that when the stack reaches the delivery end of the belts 30 it will have turned 90 degrees in a horizontal plane, thus delivering the stack to the pusher fingers 66 so positioned that its length is in the direction of travel of the conveyors. The turning movement of the stack while travelling along the turning conveyor belts is diagrammatically depicted in Figure 5. The chain 5!, as hereinbefore stated, is driven from any suitable operating component of the printing machine, thus insuring that the components of the delivery operate in proper timed relation with the operating components of the printing machine. The chain 5i and sprocket 50 drive the sprockets 42 through the shaft 43, and the sprockets 42, in turn, drive the chains 4i and sprockets 40. The chains ll are driven so that their upper reaches travel towards the printing machine, and, inasmuch as the travellers 53 are operably secured to the chains 4| through the interposed links 58, it is manifest that the travellers 53, together with the pusher fingers 66 and their supporting shaft 65 and arms 62, are moved back and forth or reciprocated. Each stack is turned and delivered by the belts 30 of the turning conveyor to the point indicated by the dotted lines D'in Figure 1. At this phase of operation of the machine, the pusher fingers 66 are positioned behind the stack, as shown in Figure 12 of the modified form of the invention, and, as the chains 4| continue to move the travellers 53 are carried forward along the tracks i5 of the supporting rails l2, thus causing the fingers 66 to push the stack ahead of them to the position indicated in full lines at E in Figure 1. Since the pusher fingers 66 are spaced apart, it will be seen that if the bundle has not been turned so in Figure 1, and then the continued operation of the mechanism causes the links 58 to raise the pusher finger supporting arm 62 so that the push er fingers 66 are elevated above the top of the next succeeding stack of sheets, as shown in d0tted lines in Figure 1, thus permitting the fingers to pass backwardiy over the stack, as shown in Figure 10 of the modified form. After the fingers 33 have passed rearwardly over the stack, the continued operation of the chains ll causes the links 68 to move downwardly as their pivotal connections with the chains 4! pass around the sprockets 42, thus lowering the pusher fingers to operable position to engage the next succeeding. stack, as shown in Figure 12 of the modified form. As the next succeeding stack is pushed forward, it, in turn, engages the previously delivered stack and forces it into operable position into the bundling mechanism, as indicated at F in Figure 1. After the bundle has been delivered to operable position F in the bundling mechanism, the travellers 53 move rearwardly to engage the next stack, and during the initial rearward movement of the travellers.53, the roller 81 engages the upper face of the inclined cam plate 86, thus rocking the arm '82 of the bell crank downwardly. As the arm 82 moves downwardly, it forces the bell crank arm 83, link 93 and arm rearwardly which rocks the shaft 88 to move the arm 9| and roller 92 downwardly, thus causing the roller 92 to press downwardly against the cam 24 of the starting pedal 23 to initiate the operation of the bundling mechanism. After the pedal 23, which is biased to its upper or normal position, has been depressed to start the operation of the bundling mechanism, it will return to its normal position, indicated in Figure 1, after the roller 81 disengages the cam plate 86. As the travellers 53 move forwardly towards the bundling mechanism 2| the roller 81 engages the bottom face of the cam plate 86, thus moving the bell crank arm 82 upwardly against the tension of the spring 95. After the roller 81 moves forwardly suificiently to disengage the cam plate 86, the spring 95 tends to suddenly move the treadle operating components back to the position indicated in Figure 1, but, the dash pot 98 prevents this sudden movement of the component, thereby avoiding any undue shock to the mechanism. As the roller 81 moves rearwardly it engages the cam plate 86 and depresses the lever 82 thereby depressing the treadle 23 against its normally upward bias, but when the roller 81 in its rearward movement disengages the cam plate 86 the sud den upward movement of the treadle 23 and lever 82 is prevented by the resisting operation of the dash pct 98.

The bundling mechanism, in conformity with the usual practice, and as disclosed in the hereinbefore cited patents, operates to tie or secure a flexible element I05 around the stack to form a bundle. As the next succeeding stack is delivered into the bundling mechanism, the tied bundle is pushed onto the rollers 16 of the gravity conveyor, as shown in Figure l, and then the bundle is conveyed by gravity along the rollers to the power actuated conveyor belt 18, which, in turn, conveys the bundle to its ultimate or desired destination.

As hereinbefore pointed out, the construction and operation of the form of the invention disclosed in Figures 9 to 12, inclusive, is similar to the operation of the form disclosed in Figures 1 to 8, inclusive, except the products are conveyed by the conveyor belts 22 to a point to be engaged by the pusher fingers 66 without turning the products, thereby eliminating the product turning belts and their operating components.

Inasmuch as there are now in existence high speed printing machines which fold the products and deliver them in stacks, and, also, printing machines which deliver stacks of unfolded sheets, it is to be understood that the term printing machine employed in this specification is to include printing machines with or without folders. Having thus described our invention, we claim: 1. In combination, means for conveying a stack of printed products to a predetermined point,

a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around the stack of products to form a bundle, a carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement in a common plane, and means operably supported by the carriage and'movable relative thereto for operation in separate planes for engaging and moving the stack from the said point of delivery into the bundling mechanism, saidmeans moving in one plane when moving towards the bundling mechanism and in a difierent plane when moving therefrom.

2. In combination, means for conveying a stack of printed products to a predetermined point, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around the stack'of products to'form a bundle, a carriage mounted for reciprocatory movement in a common plane between the predetermined point and the bunaround a stack of products to form a bundle,

dling mechanism, means operably supported by the carriage and movable relative thereto for operation in separate planes for engaging and mov-v ing the stack from the said point into the bum dling mechanism and to subsequently discharge the bundle from the bundling mechanism, said means moving in one plane when moving towards the bundling mechanism and in a different plane when moving therefrom, and means for conveying the bundle away from the bundling mechanism.

3. In combination, means for delivering a stack of products to a predetermined point, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a, bundle, means for turning the stack between the predetermined point and the bundling mechanism, and means for moving the turned stack into the bundling mechanism.

4. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element means defining a path of travel leading to the bundling mechanism, means for delivering a stack of rectangular printed products along the path of travel to a predetermined point, the length of the products being initially disposed perpendicular to the directionof the path of travel, means interposed between the predeter- 4 mined point and the bundling mechanism for conveying the stack from the said point of delivery along the path of travel towards the bundling mechanism and for turning the stack so that its length is in the direction of the path of travel, and means for moving the turned stack into the bundling mechanism.

5. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, means defining a horizontal path of travel leading to the bundling mechanism, means for delivering a stack of rectangular printed products along the path of travel to a predetermined point, the length of the stack being initially disposed perpendicular to the direction of the path of travel, means interposed between the predetermined point and the bundling mechanism for conveying the stackirom the said point of delivery along the path of travel towards the bundling mechanism and for turning the stack in a horizontal plane so that its length is in the direction of the path of travel, and reciprocating means for moving the turned stack into the bundling mechanism and to discharge the bundle from the bundling mechanism.

6. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a conveyor for conveying the stack ofprinted products towards the bundling mechanism toa predetermined point, a second conveyor for conveying the stack from the said point further towards the bundling mechanism to a second predetermined point between the first mentioned point and the bundling mechanism, and a composite reciprocating mechanism having a stack-'- engaging component movable in separate planes formoving the stack from the second point into the bundling mechanism, the said stack engaging component moving in one plane when moving towards the bundling mechanism and in a different plane when moving therefrom.

7. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a conveyor remote from the bundling mechanism for conveying a stack of printed products along a horizontal path of travel towards the bundling mechanism to a predetermined point, a second conveyor for moving the-stack from the said point further along a horizontal path of travel towards the bundling mechanism to a second point between the first mentioned point and the bundling mechanism, the second conveyor turning the stack substantially 90 during its movement, and a feeding mechanism for moving the turned stack from the second point into the bundling mechanism. I

8. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to'form a bundle, a conveyor for conveying a stack of printed products towards the bundling mechanism to a ,arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a second conveyor having a plurality of movable elements for moving the stack from the delivery point of the first conveyor towards the bundling mechanism, the elements of the second conveyor moving at diflerent speeds to turn the stack substantially 90 degrees during its movement along the second conveyor, a feeding mechanism operable to move the turned stack into the bundling mechanism and to discharge the formed bundle from the bundling mechanism.

10. In combination, a conveyor for delivering a stack of printed products to a predetermined point, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a second conveyor having a plurality of movable elements for moving the stack from the delivery point of the first conveyor towards the bundling mechanism, the 1 ferent speeds to turn the stack in a horizontal plane substantially 90 degrees during its movement along the second conveyor, a reciprocatory feeding mechanism operable to move the turned stack into the bundling mechanism and to discharge the formed bundle from the bundling mechanism, and means for conveying the discharged bundle away from the bundling mechanism.

10 11. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a trackway, a feeder carriage arranged for reciprocatory movement in a single plane along the trackway, fingers operably supported by the feeder carriage and movable relative thereto, means for conveying stacks of products towards the bundling mechanism to a predetermined point, the said fingers being operable to engage the stacks at the said point and move them into the bundling mechanism.

12. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundie, a conveyor remote from the bundling mechanism for conveying a stack of printed products along a horizontal path towards the bundling mechanism to a predetermined point, a reciprocatory feeder for the bundling mechanism'operably interposed between the said point and the bundling mechanism, a second conveyor operably interposed between the first conveyor and. the bundling mechanism for conveying the stack from the said predetermined point to the feeder, and

fingers pivotally supported by the reciprocatory feeder and movable relative thereto and operable to engage and move the stack into the-bundling mechanism and to subsequently discharge the bundle from the bundling mechanism.

13. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, a conveyor remote from the bundling mechanism for conveying a stack of products towards the bundling mechanism to a predetermined point, a second conveyor operably interposed between the said point and the bundling mechanism for conveying the stack from the said predetermined point further towards the bundling mechanism to a second predetermined point, the second conveyor including a plurality of conveyor elements, means for driving the conveyor elements of the second conveyor at different speeds to thereby turn the stack in a horizontal plane during its movement along the conveyor, and reciprocatory means for feeding the stack into the bundling mechanism and to subsequently discharge the formed bundle from the bundling mechanism.

14. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundle, means for conveying stacked products towards the bundling mechanism to a predetermined point, a feeder for feeding the stacked products from said point into the bundling mechanism and to subsequently discharge the formed bundle from the bundling mechanism, the feeder including a carriage mounted for reciprocatory move-- members mounted for horizontal reciprocatory movement along the trackway, pusher fingers, supporting arms for the pusher fingers pivotally secured to the supporting members, endless chains, and links operably secured to the endless 15 chains and supporting members and operable to engage the supporting arms of the pusher fingers to thereby move the supporting arms and pusher fingers relative to the supporting members to, raise the pusher fingers above the top of a stack 20 of products to permit the fingers to pass over the next succeeding stack during its movement to engage the said next succeeding stack, the fingers engaging the stack and operable to move it into the bundling mechanism. 25

16. In combination, a bundling mechanism constructed and arranged to secure a flexible element around a stack of products to form a bundie, a conveyor for bodily moving and delivering an assembled stack of products to a predeter- '30 mined point, means for conveying the stack along a common plane between. the predetermined point and the bundling mechanism and for turning the stack parallel to the said plane during the movement, and means for moving the turned 36 stack into the bundling machine.

17. In a conveyor mechanism adapted to receive stacks of printed and folded products from a folder of a printing machine and convey them to a bundling machine, a continuously moving '40 endless carrier having driving connection with the folder and arranged to receive and forward stacks of products received therefrom, a pusher member having fingers for engaging the rear sides of the stacks and constructed and arranged '45 to take the stacks from the endless carrier and effect movement of the said stacks into and out of the bundling machine, and means for operating the pusher member to maintain the fingers substantially normal to their line of movement '50 while they engage the stacks, to raise them out of the path through which the stacks pass, and to lower them to the said path to engage each stack. 5

18. In a conveyor mechanism adapted to re- '55 ceive stacks of printed and folded products from a folder of a. printing machine and convey them to a bundling machine, a treadle constructed and arranged to initiate by its movement the operation of the bundling machine, a continuously 60 moving endless carrier having driving connection with the folder and arranged to receive and forward stacks of printed products therefrom, a pusher mechanism movable towards and away from the bundling mechanism and having fingers 65 for engaging the rear side of each stack and constructed and arranged to take the stacks from the endless carrier and move them into the bundling mechanism, and means carried by the pusher mechanism for engaging and moving the 70 treadle as the pusher mechanism is moved away from the bundling machine to thereby initiate the operation of the bundling machine.

ALBERT J. HORTON. STANLEY C. FREEMAN. .75 

